The ‘Claw’ hasn’t come for your leaves? Here’s why

The leaves are piling up. Where’s the claw?

The city’s “claw” debris collection machines have not visited many Land Park streets for 20 days — well beyond the 14 days the city aims for between claw visits.

“What we’re experiencing right now, I guess, we’d call the ‘perfect storm’ where we have heavy leaf drop and also rain,” public works director Hector Barron told the City Council on Tuesday.

When the leaves are wet, the claw trucks cannot be filled all the way because the loads are too heavy, requiring more trips than usual, Barron said.

That has delayed pickups across the city.

From Dec. 1 to 11 last year, the claw trucks collected 800 tons of leaves. This year for the same time period, they’ve collected 1,700 tons — more than double, according to Erin Treadwell, a spokeswoman for the city’s solid waste division.

“It’s probably the first time in seven years we’ve had a leaf drop quite like this, where the drop and wet weather all happened on the same week,” Treadwell said.

The claws are on on their fourth trip through the city, currently making their way through Land Park, Treadwell said. The last time they visited Land Park was Nov. 20-22.

East Sacramento residents could also be waiting 19 days for leaf pickup. The claw last visited that neighborhood Nov. 28, and it’s not currently planned to go back until Monday through Wednesday of next week.

Wednesday, the leaves were dry enough that crews could take full loads, Treadwell said. If conditions remain dry, the city should be back to its 14-day schedule soon, she said.

The crews are working six days a week, with many working overtime to catch up on the leaf piles, Barron said.

The city posted a notice on the Land Park page of the social media site Next Door Tuesday morning explaining the delay, Treadwell said. It also sent alerts over the last couple days to affected residents who receive reminders on their collection days.

Vice Mayor Steve Hansen, who represents Land Park, said the city should have publicly notified all city residents about the problem sooner.

“What’s disappointing is that Mother Nature may have helped cause this problem, but the city’s lack of ability to communicate made it worse,” said Hansen, who said he got a lot of complaints from Land Park residents over the weekend.

The city updates its calendar daily by 9 p.m., where residents can see a three-day window for when the claw is coming, Treadwell said. Residents should also fill their yard waste containers with leaves, since they are picked up once a week.

The annual leaf collection service began Nov. 1 and will run through Jan. 27.